Friends of Jamaica Pond Jamaica Pond Project 36 Perkins St., PO Box 300040, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-0030 Gerry Wright, Founder and President Telephone: 617-524-7070 Email: FrederickLawOlmsted@yahoo.com TTY/MA RELAY 800-439-2370 www.FriendsOfJamaicaPond.org Like our page on FaceBook for updated notices on events and policy issues at https://www.facebook.com/Jamaica-Pond-Project-153132748084891/ A program of Community Service Care, Inc. a non-profit, tax exempt organization

Friends of Jamaica Pond History and Annual Park Keeper Award Frederick Law Olmsted a one-man play by Gerry Wright Nature's Class Room: Environmental Education Projects Environmental Research Projects Forestry Protection Projects Emerald Necklace Bird Club Volunteer Stewardship Program Calendar and Meetings and Press Memberships and Donations Links and Resources Contact and Email Info

"Let it be not for present use and delight alone, but let it be of such a work that our descendents will thank us for it." Frederick Law Olmsted

Nature's Class Room: Environmental Education Projects Jamaica Pond's Albino Gray Squirrel Eastern Chipmunk Cottontail Rabbits Great Horned Owls Red Tailed Hawks Butterflies and Dragonflies Wildflowers Pink Lady's Slipper Great Blue Herons Emerald Necklace Fungi (Coming Soon)

Emerald Necklace’s WOOD DUCK Pato de charreteras  by Stephen Baird Wood Ducks on Jamaica Pond Wood Duck - Aix sponsa “waterbird in bridal dress” Update 2021: Families of Wood Ducks are breeding in the Emerald Necklace on the Muddy River near Wheelock College area, on Leverett Pond in the nesting boxes and on Jamaica Pond. First Year ducklings usually survive only 10 percent of the time. Update April 2016: Wood Ducks are nesting in the Leverett Pond nesting box! Yeh! Common in Emerald Necklace Parks rivers, streams and ponds during migration periods.  Secretive and stays close to shores with overhanging vegetation. Male song is thin rising whistle.  The female has a loud pitch “ooo-eek.” Adult birds grow to 18 inches to 22 inches in size with a 2-foot wingspan and weigh 1-2 pounds. The male is larger than the female. Life span is 5-15 years in the wild. Conduct courtship during December and January by feather displays and mutual preening. Most migrate as pairs. Pairs stay together for one year. Nests in tree cavities in or near water. Usually lay 8-14 ivory white eggs. Incubation by female lasts around 30 days. Some females will lay eggs in another’s nest in crowded areas. Eggs hatch March-May.  Often raise a second brood in warmer climates. Ducklings leave nest one day after hatching.  They forage on their own. Female will provide some protection.  Male does not participate in parental activities. Between 85-90 percent of chicks die during the first two weeks. Wood Ducks forage and eat seeds, berries, grains, nuts, aquatic plants and insects such as ants, bees, dragonflies, and butterflies. Wood Duck feathers are used in fishing lures. Wood Ducks were almost hunted to extinction by the 1890s.  The regulation of duck hunting, the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918 plus the nesting box program and habitat conservation started in 1930s has enabled the Wood Duck population to recover. “Summer Duck,” “Tree Duck,” “Carolina Duck,” “Squealer,” “U-Tut-Ne,” and “Aix sponsa”  are other names for Wood Duck given for its song, habitat, range, plus Native American Yahi and Latin names.  The last translates to “waterbird in bridal dress.” Female Wood Duck on Jamaica Pond Links and Resources: Cornell University's Ornithology Department on line field guide page on Wood Ducks with sample song clip HERE University of Michigan web page on Wood Ducks HERE USGS bird indentification and breeding atlas Wood Duck web page: HERE ( Gough, G.A., Sauer, J.R., Iliff, M. Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter. 1998. Version 97.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD) Wood Duck nesting houses installed on Leverett and Wards Ponds in Olmsted Park in collaboration between Friends of Olmsted Park-Friends of Jamaica Pond, Friends of Leverett Pond and the Boston Nature Center UPDATE:  April 2016.  Wood Ducks are nesting in the Leverett Pond nesting box! Iowa State University Extension Service Wood Duck nesting box design and information HERE National Audubon Society Wood Duck nesting box design and information HERE Mississippi Forest and Wildlife Research Center at Mississippi State University Wood Duck nesting box design and information HERE John Audubon's Birds of America 1840 "Summer or Wood Duck" read his natural history details HERE Life Histories of Familiar North American Birds by Arthur Cleveland Bent 1968 - Wood Duck - Original Source: Bent, Arthur Cleveland. 1923. Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum Bulletin 126 (Part I) : 158-171. United States Government Printing Office HERE Native American Stories: Their fine Feathers - How the Ducks Got Their Colorful Feathers -HERE Male Wood Duck on Jamaica Pond

Contact and Email Information

Friends of Jamaica Pond Jamaica Pond Project 36 Perkins St., PO Box 300040, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-0030 Gerry Wright, Founder and President Telephone: 617-524-7070 Email: FrederickLawOlmsted@yahoo.com TTY/MA RELAY 800-439-2370 www.FriendsOfJamaicaPond.org